How To Write A Strong Literature Review Using AI | Write In 4 Easy Steps

This video provides a comprehensive guide on how to write a strong literature review using AI platforms. It outlines five easy steps, starting with literature search using platforms like PubMed or Google Scholar, and then leveraging the AI app 'Our Discovery' for automated delivery of relevant research papers. The second step involves evaluating and selecting sources with the help of 'Chat PDF', which allows users to ask questions about the research papers. The third step is identifying themes, gaps, and debates using 'Elicit' to extract data from multiple PDFs. The fourth step is generating an outline with 'Jenny', which can suggest topics and even write the first sentence. Finally, the video suggests writing the review using platforms like 'Jenny' or 'Microsoft Word' with Mendeley add-ins for seamless referencing. The video emphasizes the importance of using AI to save time and improve the quality of literature reviews.

Takeaways

• 📚 Use AI platforms to streamline the literature review process by automating tasks such as finding and evaluating sources, organizing information, and assisting with writing.
• 🔎 Start with a literature search using platforms like PubMed or Google Scholar, or utilize the Our Discovery app for automated delivery of recent papers.
• 📲 Customize your research feed in Our Discovery by following topics, ranking their importance, and selecting specific journals to stay updated with the latest publications.
• 📈 Evaluate and select sources by reading papers thoroughly. Chat PDF can help by answering questions about the content, summarizing, and explaining figures.
• 🔍 Identify themes, gaps, and debates in the literature using platforms like Elicit, which can analyze multiple papers and suggest areas for further research.
• 📈 Generate an outline for your literature review with Jenny.a, which can prompt you with a structure based on the details you provide about your topic.
• ✍️ Write your literature review using tools that integrate well with your workflow, such as Microsoft Word with Mendeley add-in for seamless citation management.
• 🔗 Ensure your workflow is seamless by using platforms that sync easily with each other, like Our Discovery with Mendeley and Microsoft Word.
• 📝 Keep your research organized by exporting papers to your reference manager, such as Mendeley, to have them readily available for citation when writing.
• 🌟 Stay current by focusing on the most recent papers to ensure your literature review reflects the latest research and does not contain outdated information.
• ⚙️ Tailor your research and writing process to your specific needs by customizing AI tools to your research interests and goals.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of using AI platforms for writing a literature review?

The main purpose of using AI platforms for writing a literature review is to streamline the process of finding, evaluating, and synthesizing relevant academic papers, ultimately saving time and effort.

How does the platform 'Our Discovery' help in the literature search process?

Our Discovery automates the literature search process by delivering recently published research papers directly to the user's inbox based on their specified topics of interest, making it easier to stay updated with the latest research.

What is the role of 'Chat PDF' in evaluating and selecting sources for a literature review?

Chat PDF allows users to upload a research paper and ask questions about it, providing explanations, summaries, and clarifications on specific sections or figures, which aids in understanding and evaluating the paper's relevance and content.

How can 'Elicit' assist in identifying themes, gaps, and debates within the literature?

Elicit can analyze a set of user-uploaded papers or find relevant papers based on a query, providing summaries and identifying gaps in the literature, which helps in shaping the direction and content of the literature review.

What is the benefit of using 'Jenny' for generating an outline for a literature review?

Jenny can generate an outline based on the topic and details provided by the user, which serves as a structured starting point for writing the literature review, ensuring that all relevant subtopics and points are included.

How does the Microsoft Word add-in for Mendeley facilitate the writing process?

The Mendeley add-in for Microsoft Word allows for seamless integration of citations and references directly into the document, simplifying the process of citing sources and maintaining proper academic formatting.

What is the significance of staying updated with the most recent papers when writing a literature review?

Staying updated with the most recent papers ensures that the literature review reflects the current state of knowledge in the field, avoiding the presentation of outdated or superseded information.

How does the ability to export papers to a referencing manager like Mendeley save time?

Exporting papers to a referencing manager like Mendeley automatically adds them to the user's library, eliminating the need to manually search for and cite each source, thus saving significant time during the writing process.

What are some of the AI platforms mentioned in the script that can help in different stages of writing a literature review?

The AI platforms mentioned include Our Discovery for literature search, Chat PDF for evaluating sources, Elicit for identifying themes and gaps, and Jenny for generating outlines. Additionally, Mendeley is used for managing references.

How does the integration of these AI platforms make the writing process more efficient?

The integration allows for a seamless flow of information between finding relevant literature, understanding and evaluating sources, identifying key themes and gaps, generating outlines, and writing with proper citation management, reducing the time spent on each individual task.

What is the importance of tailoring the literature review to include recent and relevant research?

Including recent and relevant research ensures the literature review is up-to-date and contributes to the ongoing scholarly conversation, providing a solid foundation for any subsequent research or arguments based on the review.

How does the use of AI in literature review writing affect the traditional process?

AI enhances the traditional process by automating and streamlining tasks such as literature search, source evaluation, and outline generation, allowing researchers to focus more on analysis, synthesis, and original contributions to the field.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Automating Literature Search with AI Platforms

The first paragraph discusses the recent surge in AI products designed to assist students with various aspects of the research writing process, such as essays and assignments. The speaker introduces five different AI platforms to streamline the literature review writing process. The focus is on finding appropriate literature using a platform called 'Our Discovery,' which automates the delivery of recent research papers to the user's inbox. The platform allows users to set up a feed based on their research interests, follow specific journals, and receive notifications for the latest publications. It also enables users to evaluate the relevance of papers and export them to their reference manager for easier citation in future work.

05:01

🤖 Evaluating and Understanding Research Papers with AI

The second paragraph delves into the evaluation and selection of research sources. It highlights the use of 'Chat PDF,' an AI platform that allows users to upload a PDF and ask questions about its content. This tool is particularly useful for understanding complex research papers and identifying key points, limitations, and summarizing the paper. The paragraph also introduces 'Elicit,' another AI platform that extracts data from multiple PDFs and helps identify gaps in literature, themes, and debates. Elicit can search through a user's selected papers or find papers on a given topic, providing a synthesized answer based on the content. It can also filter results based on publication date, type of paper, and specific keywords.

10:03

📝 Generating Outlines and Writing the Literature Review

The third paragraph outlines the process of generating an outline for the literature review using 'Jenny.' This platform prompts the user for details about their writing topic and then constructs an outline based on the information provided. The outline includes sections such as understanding the topic, methodology, effects, analysis, implications, and discussion of future directions or limitations. The paragraph also mentions the use of 'Paperpal' for writing, which has an add-in for Microsoft Word to facilitate grammar and punctuation checks. The speaker emphasizes the seamless integration of these tools with each other and with Microsoft Word, making the writing process more efficient and less fragmented.

Keywords

💡AI

AI, or Artificial Intelligence, refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. In the context of the video, AI is used to assist students with various aspects of writing, including essays and literature reviews. It is a key component in automating the research and writing process, making it more efficient and less time-consuming.

💡Literature Review

A literature review is a scholarly article that systematically reviews the existing research on a particular topic. It is a crucial part of academic writing that helps establish the current state of knowledge and identify gaps in research. In the video, the author discusses how to write a strong literature review using AI platforms, highlighting the importance of finding and discussing the most recent papers.

💡PubMed

PubMed is a free search engine that primarily accesses the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. It is a key resource for conducting literature searches in the health sciences. In the video, PubMed is mentioned as a traditional platform for finding appropriate literature for a literature review.

💡Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. It is another tool mentioned in the video for conducting literature searches, particularly useful for a broader range of academic topics.

💡Our Discovery

Our Discovery is a platform mentioned in the video that provides an automated way to receive research papers. It allows users to set up a feed with specific topics of interest and receive notifications about recently published papers. This tool is highlighted as a way to streamline the process of finding the most current and relevant literature.

💡Chat PDF

Chat PDF is an AI platform that allows users to upload a PDF or research paper and ask questions about its content. It is designed to help users understand complex texts better. In the video, it is suggested for evaluating and selecting sources by asking questions and getting explanations about the papers, including figures and limitations.

💡Elicit

Elicit is a platform that can extract data from multiple PDFs and find lists of concepts. It is used in the video to identify themes, gaps in literature, and debates by analyzing a set of papers the user is interested in. Elicit helps in crafting the literature review by providing insights based on the uploaded documents.

💡Jenny

Jenny is a platform that can generate outlines for writing projects. In the video, it is used to create an outline for the literature review based on the information and topics identified as important. The platform helps structure the writing process by providing a clear outline to follow.

💡Mendeley

Mendeley is a reference management software used to manage and share research papers, collaborate with others online, and discover the latest research. In the video, it is mentioned as a tool for exporting references from Our Discovery directly into a user's Mendeley library for easier referencing in writing.

💡Microsoft Word Add-in

The Microsoft Word Add-in for Mendeley allows users to manage their citations and bibliography directly within the Microsoft Word interface. This tool is highlighted in the video as a way to seamlessly integrate research and writing by adding citations from Mendeley into a Word document.

💡Grammar and Punctuation Check

Checking grammar and punctuation is an essential part of the writing process to ensure clarity and professionalism. In the video, the use of add-ins or platforms like Paper Pal is suggested for automatically checking grammar and punctuation as part of writing a literature review in Microsoft Word.

Highlights

A significant increase in AI products has been observed in the past year, aimed at assisting students with their writing and research processes.

Our Discovery is a free app that automates the delivery of recent research papers to your inbox based on your selected topics.

You can customize your feed on Our Discovery by following specific topics and journals to receive tailored research recommendations.

The app allows you to mark papers as relevant or not, which helps refine the algorithm for future recommendations.

Chat PDF is an AI platform that enables users to upload a research paper and ask questions to understand its content better.

Elicit is a platform that can extract data from multiple PDFs and help identify gaps in literature, themes, and debates.

Elicit can analyze a set of papers you're interested in and provide answers based on those documents.

Jenny.a is a platform that can generate an outline for your literature review based on the topic you provide.

Jenny.a can also provide sentence recommendations and help with citation management.

Microsoft Word can be used for writing with seamless integration of Mendeley for citation management.

Grammar and punctuation can be checked automatically using add-ins like Paper Pal or Grammarly.

Different tools may be more suitable for different research areas and aims, so it's important to find the ones that best fit your needs.

Our Discovery, Mendeley, and Microsoft Word can sync easily to streamline the writing process.

The video provides a step-by-step guide on using AI platforms to write a strong literature review in four easy steps.

The importance of discussing the most recently published papers to ensure the literature review's accuracy and relevance.

The necessity of reading papers in full to understand their meaning and determine their relevance to the literature review.

The use of AI to ask follow-up questions and get explanations on complex figures within research papers.

Filtering options on Elicit to refine the search for relevant papers based on criteria like publication date and type.

The seamless blending of different platforms to support the entire writing process from research to final draft.